WCR This Week

Nothing More Beautiful speakers list announced

Sr. Eileen Schuller

EDMONTON - The cardinal-archbishop of Washington and the new primate of the Catholic Church in Canada will be among the 10 speakers in the fourth year of Nothing More Beautiful that begins Oct. 27.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington and Archbishop Gérard Lacroix of Quebec will speak at the Edmonton Archdiocese's series on the new evangelization, which in the fall turns its attention to The Beauty of Discipleship.

Archbishop Richard Smith announced the roster of speakers for next year`s five Nothing More Beautiful sessions that normally take place on Thursdays at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph's Basilica. One of next year's sessions is set for a Friday.

THE CALL TO HOLINESS

Smith himself will be the first catechist next fall in the Oct. 27 session on The Call to Holiness. The witness that evening will be David Wells, director of religious education for the Diocese of Plymouth, England. Wells earlier worked for the Bishops Conference of England and Wales and has spoken in Alberta several times since 2003.

The Dec. 9 Nothing More Beautiful will take place on a Friday.

The catechist is Bishop Murray Chatlain of Mackenzie-Fort Smith, who will speak on The Splendour of God's Word. A native of Saskatoon, Chatlain has served as a bishop in the North for four years and as head of his diocese since May 2008.

He will be joined that evening by Sister Eileen Schuller, an internationally renowned scholar on the Dead Sea Scrolls and early Judaism who also has strong Alberta connections. She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Alberta and has taught at both Newman Theological College and St. Joseph's College of the U of A. An Ursuline sister, she now is a professor of religious studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.

WONDER OF SACRAMENTS

Bishop Donald Bolen

On Feb. 16, the topic will be The Wonder of the Sacraments with Bishop Donald Bolen of Saskatoon and Teresa Kellendonk, associate director of pastoral care for the Edmonton Archdiocese, as the speakers.

Bolen, an avid Saskatchewan Roughriders fan, has taught religious studies at Campion College of the University of Regina and also served as the Vatican's officer for relations with the Anglican Communion and the World Methodist Council. He has been honoured by the archbishop of Canterbury for his contributions to Anglican-Catholic relations.

Kellendonk had extensive experience in parish ministry and hospital and prison chaplaincy before coming to work with the archdiocese. A native of Toronto, she also has a master of divinity degree from Newman College.

BEAUTY OF THE MORAL LIFE

Archbishop Lacroix will be the catechist on The Beauty of the Moral Life on April 19. The eldest of seven children, he was raised in Saint-Hilaire de Dorset, Quebec. He served as a missionary in Colombia for 10 years and became auxiliary bishop of Quebec in 2009 and archbishop of Canada's oldest diocese in March.

The witness that evening will be Moira McQueen, who has a doctorate in moral theology from University of St. Michael's College in Toronto where she has taught since 1994. McQueen has been director of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute since 1994.

OUR ETERNAL DESTINY

Cardinal Wuerl is well known in the United States for his catechetical and teaching ministry and is co-author of the best-selling catechism The Teaching of Christ. He will speak on Our Eternal Destiny on May 10.

Born in Pittsburgh, Wuerl served briefly as auxiliary bishop of Seattle before returning to Pittsburgh as its bishop for 18 years. In 2006, he became archbishop of Washington.

Dr. Joseph Pereira of Ottawa, a leading authority on palliative care, will be the witness that evening.